Crane Song TRAKKER

Description

Crane Song Trakker Mono Compressor

Description:

Possibly the MOST versatile tracking compressor on the market today. You can choose everything from the style of compression (FET, VariMu, VCA and opto) to the Color (vintage, modern, bright, etc), this compressor can be your one compressor to do it all

What we think:

At first glance, the Trakker looks like a compressor not too different from any other - it features many familiar controls, but to really grasp its flexibility andhuge range of tonal options you’ll have hours of experimenting ahead of you.

The big new variable with the Trakker is the Character Switch - a 16 position switch that changes the style and tone of compression. In fact, everything changes about the compressor as you cycle through the various different character types.

I naively tried printing audio clips of each different character position, keeping all the other controls the same. Initially I thought this would give me a good impression of the different characters. It may be worth doing as a very initial experiment, but SO MUCH changes when the character switch is moved it’s just not the equal comparison that it seems to be initially.

Put simply, the trakker can give you a really transparent, almost undetectable sounding compression when that’s what you need, but it can also do gooey and smooth as well as fast, grabby and pumpy. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that in stereo linked operation, all settings other than output gain are matched from the master unit to the slave unit(s) - a feature that far too few stereo/dual mono compressors offer.

If you’re looking for a single compressor that can handle vocals, bass guitar and drums as well as bus work and mastering, there’s really no other compressor that covers so many different applications so well.

Manufacturer Description:

TRAKKER is a high quality Single Channel Discrete Class A Compressor-Limiter. It functions either as a musically transparent compressor or as a vintage compressor-limiter with selectable hard or soft knee. It can create distinct new sounds or maximize existing ones. The TRAKKER has adjustable threshold, attack, release, knee shape, and makeup gain controls. In addition to these controls, a function switch allows the selection of transparent operation or vintage operations such as optical, air optical, soft knee, and hard knee - each with four different amplifier/gain control sounds.

The front panel contains a 22 element VU meter with over load indicator to show gain reduction and allow accurate monitoring of output levels. In the link mode the master unit controls all functions of the slave units except for make-up gain. An additional feature of the TRAKKER is the ability to link up to 8 units for surround mixing.

TRAKKER is a maximum-versatility toolkit for solving real-world recording, broadcast, and sound reinforcement problems with the utmost attention to signal quality. From single channel operation to bus compression, TRAKKER can provide an artistic choice of sounds at the flip of a switch.